A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger

Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident 

On the way to the Tumbling Waters and Fossil trails at the Pocono Environmental Education Center are two stone seats with a ring of stone between them. A monument identifies it as The Ring of Aldyth. Honeymoon Haven has placed it there for lovers to seal their relationship, it says. 

Until 1972 Honeymoon Haven occupied the land that became PEEC. It was one of many mountain destinations for couples from the city seeking a romantic retreat for their honeymoon. These were very popular with soldiers returning home after World War II. The Ring of Aldyth was one of several photo ops there. 

This monument is a replica of one found in the courtyard of The Church of the Recession at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. The legend, more fully described in the courtyard, tells of a Saxon lass named Aldyth, and how she waited to see if her true love, a warrior in the Saxon army, would survive the battle of Hastings in 1066. They sealed their troth by holding hands within the stone ring. Though the battle was lost, the warrior returned to Aldyth. 

The Church of the Recession is a replica of the Church of St. Margaret in Rottingdean, Sussex, near the battleground. It was built well before 1066. I was curious if there was an original Ring of Aldyth in their courtyard, or at least a legend. 

I contacted the Vicar of Rottingdean, Rev. Doctor Anthony Moore who replied, “There is certainly no Ring in Rottingdean.” I conclude that this most interesting stone monument in our part of the forest seems to be a replica of a replica of which no original ever existed, to memorialize a legend that was created sometime in the 1930’s in California. Aldyth, was, however, the name of the wife of King Harold of Hastings – make of that what you will. The legend might be fiction, but the love of warriors returning to their true loves is certainly not, whether returning to Sussex after the Battle of Hastings, or returning to the Poconos in 1945.